Entertainment company PVR Ltd is in the process of incorporating PVR Leisure, a new subsidiary in which L-Cap Eco Ltd will hold 46 per cent stake, and it expects to complete the formalities in the next couple of weeks.

The new joint venture company will take care of the BluO, its bowling alley business, in addition to PVR’s upcoming initiatives in the gaming, F&B and lifestyle space.

On Friday, PVR Ltd had inaugurated a new 9-screen, 2,081-seat, multiplex in Pune, marking its first foray into the city. It has invested Rs 25 crore in this property, Pramod Arora, Group President, said, adding that another 7-screen PVR multiplex will be launched in Pune in the next three to four months.

“On the multiplex front, we will add 80 screens per annum over the next three years,” he said.

Through organic and inorganic growth, PVR plans to have 500 screens across India by 2016 from the current 197 screens.

According to Arora’s estimate, India will support 20,000 screens in the organised sector in the 10-15 years. The country has around 1,000 screens as of today.

Directors Cut

Meanwhile, with plans afoot to expand its luxury movie theatre format Directors Cut into overseas financial hubs — Singapore, New York and London in the next three years, Arora revealed that a new CEO was now on board to oversee the growth of this business.

In early August, L-Capital Eco Ltd, a subsidiary of private equity firm L Capital Asia, invested $20 million in PVR Ltd. “The formalities for incorporation (of the joint venture company) will be completed in the next couple of weeks,” Aurora said.

PVR currently has three bowling alleys, two in Delhi and one in Bangalore, and will add four more — two each in Bangalore and Pune over the next four to six months, he said.

>alka.k@thehindu.co.in

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